One way to ensure accountability is to show the public how well a project is meeting its stated Recovery Act goals. A large municipal government in the western United States developed a website dedicated to showing its citizens the progress it made on its building retrofit program. The public-facing dashboard provides both financial information and a range of statistics showing the number of retrofits completed by category.  Categories include single and multi-family homes, small businesses, larger commercial entities, hospitals, and city-owned buildings. Summary statistics show both energy assessments conducted and retrofits completed.  

In addition to the dashboard, the website contains useful information about program enrollment for private homeowners and businesses, as well as technical information, such as: an embedded instructional video on how an energy assessment works; links to contractors providing relevant services; and community-related links.  The website even supports a blog. 

The EERE Technical Project Officer supported the addition of the dashboard to the project as a way of communicating progress to the public. This approach can serve as an example to other local and state governments engaged in EERE-funded projects.